When two things are yoked together, they direct the path of the other one. This only works when the two are moving in unison together. When they are not, it is a source of conflict and tension as the two cannot go in different directions. For the believer and the unbeliever, our flesh still craves to go the direction of sin, running counter to our new life.
Hope sustains us during the times we feel like a Pariah. For all the effort that churches put into branding, messaging, and all the other accoutrements, 1 Corinthians 13 makes it abundantly clear that only three things remain; faith, hope, and love. There are the foundation of our salvation and of the Gospel.
Hope sustains us during the times we feel like a Pariah. For all the effort that churches put into branding, messaging, and all the other accoutrements, 1 Corinthians 13 makes it abundantly clear that only three things remain; faith, hope, and love. There are the foundation of our salvation and of the Gospel.
John the Baptist speaks with a strength and faith that surpasses even the strongest of the Pharisees and religious leaders of his time. He wastes no time and directly piercing the heart with his strong rhetoric and direct preaching. He calls the religious leaders a brood of vipers for failing to see the story of faith unfolding right before them. As difficult as this may have been, John was able to speak with clarity and boldness as one who spoke empowered by the faith in Jesus Christ.
God, after paving a way, created a home. The new heaven and the new earth would be home for those who follow Christ. Whatever pain we feel, whatever struggles we endure, are temporary. Our true hope rests in the unchanging and everlasting God who has secured our eternity. We can hold our heads high and focus our gaze on the promise and hope of our everlasting.
God’s goal is not to merely keep us from sinning. This missing the grand purpose of Christ’s coming. Just as wiping the dirt of clothes does not make them clean, getting us to stop sinning does not mean we are sanctified. The purpose of Christ’s coming was to return us to Him, fully and completely. Our sin separated us from the holiness of God. The hope in our victory over sin rests fully in the work of Jesus Christ having already conquered sin.
Everyone has someone in their life that they are concerned about their faith. God places people in our life that we either are concerned about their salvation or eagerly seeking to see the evidence of their faith lived out. Many times, these are the people that God has given us for the long haul. The story won’t be that a testimony was shared one time and then everything became fine. This will be a longstanding, persistent relationship where the affect of God is felt overtime, even though it may not be seen immediately.
It is vital that we are able to support one another during our lives and stand with one another. As with most things I have found, there is room to grow on both sides and losing weight is no exception. From an overweight person seeking to drop weight and making progress, here are some helpful ways to support one another.
The movie Rogue One, a prequel to the 1977 film Star Wars, tells the story of a band of heroes seeking to resist evil and ensure those who seek the domination of the galaxy do not thrive. Throughout the movie, there is a constant of hope. You see characters who had given up hope, find it renewed and the struggle of losing and gain hope is made plain. For Christians, the idea of hope is one of the three we must cling to dearly (the other two being faith and love cf 1 Corinthians 13). As we walk through the daily life of following Christ and trusting Him, hope can be one of our greatest tools and strongest allies in the process.
Luke writes with major foreshadowing of the time that would be coming. For Jesus seemingly went missing and was found on the third day. Furthermore, He was found keeping about the business of His heavenly Father and proclaiming the good news to all who would receive it. This is the same thing with His crucifixion. For Mary, this was a difficult time fearing she had not only lost her son but had lost the Son of Man. For Jesus, however, when he noticed that His community had left Him, He knew to seek solace in the house of His Heavenly Father.
